Thank you, Athabasca!

Dear Stakeholder

It's been a busy time for us at Athabasca Cares. We've put together an online auction for our first fundraiser, learned about grants we can apply for in the future, received donations from community partners, asked for our voice to be heard in the Legislature and most importantly, have been making on the ground connections with some of the folks in our community who are currently unhoused. 

We are so happy with and proud of our little town! Our expectations for our online auction and people wanting to be involved have been exceeded! This makes us feel positive about the future and our ability to help our unhoused community members transition to housing. 

There is a long way to go, though, as rural homelessness is not on the radar at the provincial level. We will be continuing to ask for your support, but also your ideas and suggestions on the best ways to provide the multiple levels of housing that our community needs... from emergency overnight shelter, to facilitated living for those with complex needs, to affordable family housing. Stay tuned!

We hope that you all have a happy holiday season and know that we truly appreciate your support! Thank you!

- ACCHS Board of Directors

Fundraising Facebook Auction

Our auction is up and running! We have received over 50 amazing community donations of goods and services. From hand-knitted touques to Oilers tickets, there is something for everyone to bid on! 

There is still time to bid on your favorite items, as the auction closes Friday night at 11:59 pm. Join the group to start bidding: https://www.facebook.com/groups/294537359050600

We will be using a portion of all funds raised to build emergency packs for folks who are out in the cold. If you come into contact with unhoused folks who may need one, please contact us to make arrangements.

If you would like to donate funds directly, you can e-transfer to athabascacares@gmail.com or use the donate button below to be redirected to our PayPal. Any amount helps and is most appreciated!

We would like to thank the following for their generous auction donations:

A Gift from Rotary Club of Athabasca

Thanks so much to the generous donation from the Rotary Club of Athabasca. ACCHS President, Krystal Zahara receives a cheque from Rotary Treasurer, Darlene Reimer.

We appreciate the good work that Rotary does in Athabasca and all over the world. We are looking forward to presenting to the Rotarians in the new year.

Sleeping Bag Drive

A special shout out to Tina Jensen who arranged a community sleeping bag drive and donated ACCHS with 10 new sleeping bags to add to our emergency packs! Thanks so much, Tina!

Our Voice In the Legislature

Even though the provincial government had recently announced some additional funds for those experiencing homelessness, there wasn't much help for rural Albertan communities.

ACCHS President Krystal Zahara commented on a Facebook story about how we have been forgotten. MLA Janis Irwin responded saying if we provided more information, they would try to bring up rural homelessness in the legislature. 

Because one of our functions is to advocate for those experiencing homelessness, we took MLA Irwin up on the suggestion and sent her a letter voicing our concern that rural homelessness is being overlooked at the provincial level.

We hope that the provincial government will take our concerns, and the concerns of many other rural communities, to heart. Read the letter here.

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At some point in time in the past, you have had communications with ACCHS and indicated that you would like to be kept up to date on our organization and activities. This will be the main way that we communicate with stakeholders and partners. If you do not want to receive further emails, please unsubscribe below.